


There'll Be Peace

by Rosegoldeneyes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Endgame, Gen, I'm Sorry, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, Not Really Character Death, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 02:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosegoldeneyes/pseuds/Rosegoldeneyes
Summary: Peace/pēs/Nounfreedom from disturbance; tranquility.“What would you rather have: peace or freedom?” A question asked by an angel riding shotgun many years ago—and the answer is one which we all seek. However, he should have asked something else: What happens when you finally make your choice?





	There'll Be Peace

**Author's Note:**

> My name is Ashley and this is my first ever real ficlet. I want to thank my incredible beta and co-creator Bianca (potterswinchesters) who motivates, inspires, and sometimes yells at me. I highly suggest checking out her works as they bring pain of epic proportions. This is set in a canon-somewhat-divergence from S14 where they already took care of AU!Michael so he is not a part of this story.

They win.

Well, he wins.

Dean Winchester—son of John and Mary Winchester, brother of Sam Winchester, and… best friend of Castiel.

Lucifer was right in the end. “See you in five years,” he’d said. The year is 2019, almost exactly five years after Dean’s trip to the future. They always thought it would end with another apocalypse; instead, it was just a normal battle. The three of them against the archangel in a vessel that was not made for him, as their defiance of destiny ensured. 

Cas threw himself in front of a blade for Sam. He’s not coming back. At least, not according to Billie, who wouldn’t tell them whether he was there or in Heaven. Dean hopes it’s the former. Better real peace than fake happiness, his mind insists. But then I’ll never see him again, his heart whispers in reply.

Sam tried, one last time, to get his revenge for all the tears spilled and curses shouted in Lucifer’s name. He was burnt to death by Holy Fire. It’s fitting. Sam was born out of fire and died within flames.

Lucifer finally met his end at the hands of Sam’s brother and eternal protector. Dean stabbed the Devil through the back and watched the Empty devour his Grace. It was corrupted; an ugly black, unlike the shining blue that erupted from Cas.

Dean’s the only one left now, having seen his brother ascend to Heaven, and the only chance at love he’s ever had be swallowed by darkness.

The brothers considered ending it once and for all, especially after Mom was taken from them again. They always talked about the possibility, that elephant in the room constantly looming over them. It would’ve been too easy, but somehow they kept carrying on. “Dean, the world needs us,” Sam had told him, bloodied and bruised, but never broken. Dean wished he had half the strength Sam did. After an eternity in Hell and another one spent drowning, he finally experienced the pain of losing Jack; who was not only a friend, but his son.

Right now though, there’s no time to reflect on their triumphs and his losses. There are two bodies to bury: for all of his talk about how they have to follow “the life”, Dean feels that it’s time to leave the tradition of hunter-style pyres behind once and for all. Sam and Cas deserve more than kerosene and a lit match. Lucifer’s corpse, however, is easy to burn, the flames catching quick and wiping away all traces of his tattered wing-shadows.

The Impala survived when they didn’t, its empty seats taunting Dean as he drives to a place he swore to never see again. Bobby’s old land still looks the same, and the house Dean had commissioned as a surprise for Sam was just completed. Yesterday. Sam never got to see it, but Dean likes to think that he knew about it anyway. (The nosy snoop knew everything.)

A motherly figure is waiting for him by the door with crossed arms and tear-stained cheeks, likely triggered by the voicemail Dean left her. Three girls are gathered around her, arms open wide to pull the last Winchester into a group hug while his shoulders shake with sobs. Six bedrooms, a huge kitchen for Dean and Donna, and an armory stocked with tools. It’s home.

Later that year, Patience wins the State Volleyball Championships, and the disbandment of the British Men of Letters is complete due to the lack of supernatural beings in Europe.

Five years later, Alex graduates college, and the last vampire in the United States is eradicated from existence.

Ten years later, Claire and her wife adopt a boy named Casper, and every ruguru, hostile werewolf, and wendigo in America is long dead.

Fifteen years later, Dean looks upon the family he built and closes the Gates of Hell. As per his dying wish, he’s buried in Stull Cemetery, filling the plot he’d left free—right between Sam and Castiel—all those years ago. The funeral is small, attended only by his three daughters and the two best friends he still has. And yet, the ceremony is worthy of a hero. His last thoughts are of a tall, shaggy-haired man and an angel in a trench coat, and the first things he sees in Heaven are their smiling faces.

He wins. And leaves behind a legacy to pass on the story—no, the epic—of Team Free Will, finally at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Congratulations for making it through! My twitter is @iconicmisheel if you have questions, concerns, or want to curse me out. Comments are extremely appreciated! Thank you for reading and I hope you have an amazing night/day!


End file.
